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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

As you can see, Daphne has lost all of her recent baby weight—and Dolores has found it. We thought Dolores had miscarried last winter when we discovered a large bloody spot in the snow, but it looks like we were (thankfully) wrong. I don't remember Dolores being this big when she was pregnant with Dinky and Esmeralda, so I'm thinking—and hoping—she must be very close!

I am positive I looked like Deloras , and felt like her also when I was ready to deliver. She even looks like she is thinking she can't wait to get this over with. Poor girl, I do have empathy for her. So bulky, so uncomfortable, so unwieldy. Can't wait to see healthy cute baby donkey photos.

Hi Everybody,So glad you enjoyed this photo - and are as excited as I am about a new baby donkey!

Farmer Jen and Amber,I'm wondering about twins - but I'm really hoping there aren't two baby donkeys tangled up in there! : )

Nisha,You're not the only one. ;)

Jackie and Kristin,LOL, but huge or not, you have to admit she's adorable - which means you had/have to be, too!

Peggy,I once read somewhere that the easiest 'bad' thing you can do to your donkey is let them get fat - and it went on to say that's because it's so easy to give in and give them more treats! (I did decide one time last year that perhaps the girls weren't quite as pregnant as I'd thought when I realized Dan was nearly as wide as they were. ; )

Barb,Right now we have a total of six donkeys: Dan, Dolores, Daphne, Evie, Esmeralda, and Daphne's baby boy Fernando who was born in late July.

Jenn,Just yesterday Joe was talking about how often guys ask him just what we do with the donkeys, and he usually says, "Oh, we feed them. . . and feed them. . . and pretty much just feed them."

Now that isn't exactly true. : ) We originally acquired Donkey Doodle Dandy (aka Dan) several years ago by chance (you can read that story here), though I'd heard that you could use donkeys as livestock guard animals so we thought he could help protect the sheep.

While he did love to hang out with them, I'm not sure how much actual protecting he did - and when we brought home not one but two girlfriends for him, the new herd pretty much, as Joe put it, focused on protecting themselves. ; )

I do know of some donkeys who are amazing guard animals, though. Meanwhile, the pure entertainment value of ours is priceless. I've fallen head over heels in love with donkeys and can't imagine life without them now. They have wonderful personalities and are very companionable - especially the girls who just love to be hugged.

These days Evie (who isn't getting much attention from her mother Daphne since little brother Fernando is stealing it all) loves to lightly bump into me if I'm standing nearby and not paying attention to her. She's really funny. I can't tell you how many times I've laughed out loud at our wonderful donkey herd.

I'm wondering if the shorter time might be for miniature donkeys, though I really don't know. I could do a little more online research, but it's taken me about half an hour to finish this comment because I got carried away reading parts of The Donkey Companion out loud to Joe.

I mean, you gotta love a book with a sidebar titled, 'How to Bray in 17 Languages.' The section called 'I Am Donkey, Hear Me Bray' had us (sorry, couldn't help it) laughing our asses off. Here's an excerpt:

If you don't appreciate the music of donkey braying (or your nearby neighbors don't), forgo owning a jack. Jacks sing for the sheer joy of hearing their lusty clarion calls echo across meadows and bounce off trees. They do it a lot, and their voices are loud.

That explains a lot about Dan - and reminds me how fortunate we are not to have any neighbors! : )

Okay, I gotta go see if Dolores is still intact or if the herd has increased!

We have a donkey photo that is almost a duplicate. My Dad has a cattle farm in Kentucky and 2 donkeys. My daughter makes me take her back every year to feed "Shortbread" - one of the donkey's names. Great photos.

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